Illumination

In Williamsburg the holiday season is kicked off every year the first weekend in December with an event called The Grand Illumination. What this basically entails is the colonial area being decked out in lavish decorations and a variety of feasts and entertainments all capped off with a huge fireworks show. Mimi and BaBob came to visit for the celebrations. We started off with baking and decorating gingerbread cookies. Jack got pretty into the decorating for about 10 minutes at a time then he would wander off the play and come back to decorate a few more cookies and eat the decorations. Dan and I got to enjoy some adut time and got a babysitter so we could join Mimi and Babob for a lovely dinner at the Williamsburg Inn followed by a concert at the Governor's Palace. The meal was delicious, but the real highlight was the concert. The Palace was entirely lit by candles and the performers were in colonial garb. The group was a quartet featuring a harpsichord (one actually from the 17th century), violin, bass, and flute as well as a singer who came in and out. The music was lovely and the setting only made it better. We also took part in a breakfast with Santa. We munched chocolate chip pancakes and homemade doughnuts while Jack got his face painted, decorated even more cookies, and sat nearish to Santa. He was pretty much in heaven the entire time and we had a hard time getting him to cycle down for a few hours afterwards! For the Illumination itself we joined the hordes in the colonial area and ataked out a space for ourselves by the magazine. There was a stage where various choral and musical groups performed, we even got to hear the Fife and Drums in the 50th anniversary Illumination performance. After dark the fireworks commenced. They were set off at three different areas around town so no matter where you looked there was something to see. We were right next to the show at the Magazine so we had an exceptionally good spot. Jack did great with the "works". He was a little hesitant and did cover his ears but he lasted through the entire show - about 30-45 minutes. Finally at the end he told us "No works" but by then the show was over so we were more than happy to oblige. It was a rather grand way to ring in the holiday season!

Fall in Williamsburg

It's hard to tell when Fall has arrived in Williamsburg. The last of the leaves are still on the trees here in the first week of November and despite the fact that we had frost last night it is supposed to be 75 and rainy on Monday. But even with the confusing weather we have managed to embrace the season. A few weeks ago the three of us visited what was quite possibly the best pumpkin patch ever. It was a chilly day so we bundled up and headed over to Surrey. Unbeknownst to us this involved a trip on a small ferry boast across the James River. Jack loved being on the boat, so much so that he was rather reluctant to get back in the car for the rest of the trip. When we got to College Run Farms we were given a map and a pair of cutters and headed out into the fields. There were so many different types of pumpkins it was hard to choose. Finally we settled on 2 huge Mammoth Golds, some Cinderellas, a Lumina, regular Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins and a few Long Island Cheese (great for cooking), as well as a few assorted gourds. Jack loved running around the fields. He picked out his little pumpkin almost immediately and carefully carried it with him wherever he scrambled. For the trip home we shared a cup of delicious pumpkin ice cream, made at the farm - it lasted as far as the ferry. Mimi and BaBob came for Halloween. We spent one afternoon carving the pumpkins - Jack got to help and was especially good at the disemboweling. BaBob bravely donned his Man in The Yellow Hat costume to accompany Jack, aka Curious George, around the neighbor hood. It was a warm evening with lots of clouds skittering across the sky and flocks of geese flying low over our heads - very atmospheric. Jack loved trick-or-treating, or "tee-teat" as he called it. He actually walked the entire way and gamely strode up to the doors where he would wait for BaBob to knock then very quietly say "tee-teat." To his credit he did say thank you to almost everyone! He got a pretty decent haul and was thrilled to tuck into his first candy bar. The snickers were a huge hit. Since then we've been enjoying the lovely fall weather (finally!) and trying to get used to the time change although Jack is determined to have nothing to do with it. Hopefully Fall will last for awhile longer, or perhaps this is winter - who can tell.

He's Listening

You try to teach him. There are all those little lessons that are repeated every day but that at two you are pretty sure he's not getting. Saying please and thank you - he does say please but it is usually shouted repeatedly until he gets what he wants. We are working on thank you but it comes out as "Jew" so we will continue to work on it. So, you can imagine our shock and pride when we heard Jack in the bedroom shouting in frustration as he tried unsuccessfully to take his shoes off before climbing onto our bed. We always tell him, "no shoes on the bed" we just didn't really think he was listening. So I guess we'll keep working at it, all those little lessons, and hope that like the no shoes on the bed rule they are sinking in.

Canada Part II: Jasper

So after all the traveling, we arrived in Jasper to celebrate Mimi's birthday and Mimi and BaBob's 40th anniversary. We had a fantastic cabin at the Jasper Lake Lodge with a spectacular view of said lake as well as Mount Edith Clavell behind it. The weather was on the cool side for most of the trip with occasional rain, and snow in the surrounding mountains - quite a relief for us Southerners. Luckily we brought enough gear that we could layer and the cabin had a fireplace that was put to good use. Highlights of the trip include a tram ride to the top of a mountain to see the spectacular views of the valley below, a cruise to Spirit Island during which Jack got to steer the boat much to the chagrin of the other passengers, walks around the numerous lakes, paddling the kayak around the lake, seeing elk around the lodge, the "hot pool" (aka jacuzzi), fishing with Uncle WoWoof, and Jack's new favorite - throwing rocks into the lake. Needless to say Jack was in heaven with all the fun activities and plenty of people to dote on him. With all the extra hands, Dan and I actually felt like we had a vacation - we even got a chance to go into town for a dinner date one night! It really was a great trip, we were all sorry to see it end, especially Jack.

Two, that's the magic number

While Jack has been two in spirit for quite awhile now he actually celebrated his second birthday last Friday. We kept it pretty simple, just the three of us in attendance - 4 if you count Otis and of course we always do. Jack received many fun presents, all of which were enthusiastically played with. Dan and I feel a little sheepish, we didn't get him a thing. I'm pretty sure that he didn't notice, what with the flood of gifts coming in from grandparents, aunts & uncles, great-grandparents, etc. We fixed Jack a special dinner - hot dogs, Tater Tots, fruit salad (with lots of blueberries), and the most delicious chocolate cupcakes. As a special gift to us, he was especially well behaved all day - few no's, only a couple mine's, and nary a tantrum in sight. He has even learned to say "Jack's two." It's kind of hard to believe that I actually have a 2 year old.

Canada Part I: Travelin'

"I will never be one of those parents who has a tv in the car - I can't think of anything more ridiculous!" I said years ago. So, we got the portable DVD player for the car recently. Actually, we got it especially for our trip to Canada. We figured that 7 hours in the plane followed by 7 hours in a car the next day may be a tad more bearable for everyone involved if there was a screen of some sort for Jack to get lost in. Sad to say, it worked like a charm. On our way there we didn't have to deploy our screen until the car ride. The AirCanada plane that we were on had tvs in the back of all the headrests so the Monkey had his very own, touch-screen, monitor with tons of kids shows and movies to keep him entertained. This made our cheap little DVD player a bit less exciting and also prone to destruction as he kept punching at the screen to change the video which of course didn't work and made him frustrated which lead to kicking at the screen which lead to us having to remove it altogether. Overall though, Jack proved once again to be a pretty good little traveler. He liked watching the planes come and go out the airport window and wasn't bothered a bit by the turbulence unlike his white-knuckled mom next to him. He got a little bored and acted out on a few occasions but luckily these were short-lived and pretty understandable given how short on sleep he was.

You Talk Too Much

Well the silence is broken. We officially have a chatterbox on our hands. He is still working on putting phrases and sentences together but it seems like he picks up at least 2 new words a day. We were running errands today and picked up lunch while we were out. On the drive home Dan opened the bag of chips we were going to have with our sandwiches and Jack piped up from the backseat, "Please!" Needless to say we were some proud parents! Of course we think that he thinks that chips are called please but we'll take what we get. He has invented some fun words. He calls pillows "bow" and the phone "Mamie". He also makes almost every word plural so we are asked to "moves". Of course his favorite word is "No" which he uses with startling frequency. And to think we thought it was so cute at first!

Moved

We survived. We've been in the house for just over a week and all the boxes that are going to be unpacked have been, all the appliances have been put to the test, the morning walking route is pretty much finalized, and we even have our Virginia driver's licenses. Through it all Jack behaved pretty well for a kid on the verge of 2 - a few meltdowns, lots of "no's", and a few new words like box and house. Of course we did have a secret weapon - Mamie. Dan's mom came out on the 2nd of July and immediately threw herself on the Jack grenade. The movers arrived on the 1st and as they unloaded I put Jack's room and loft in order. When Mamie got here the next day she and Jack were able to play upstairs while Dan and I unpacked boxes and arranged furniture downstairs. It was so nice to hear the sounds of the Monkey and his Mamie upstairs - little laughs, long unintelligible conversations, books being read and toys being played with - while we worked. It seemed to make the work go faster, or at least be slightly more pleasant. Of course we couldn't help but feel like we were taking advantage some of the time, especially when we snuck out to run errands while Mamie and Jack were both napping. We left a note of course, but it still felt naughty. It was also nice to have an excuse to take a break and get to see some of the town. On Sunday morning we went down to Colonial Williamsburg (CW) with Otis in tow and walked through the streets. It was a cool misty morning so it was relatively quite and we had the place mostly to ourselves as we wandered. I bought some herbs for the patio from a colonial vendor - I was assured that the colonists had basil, thyme and chives, even cayenne pepper was grown then - then we got some delicious sandwiches for lunch and headed home. We were all rather sad to see Mamie leave, Jack especially. Thanks to her help the house is actually livable - in fact with the toys strewn about you might even think we had been here much longer than a week!

We Went Down South

We just got home from our scouting trip to Virginia. In 3 short days we were able to not only see a little of Colonial Williamsburg but also find a house for the upcoming year, check out a few grocery stores, and even get to know the local Urgent Care Center. We made the 4 1/2 hour drive down last Sunday, stopping for an hour at a McDonald's with a play place so Jack could let off some steam. I've never been so grateful for a McDonald's although I really wish I could have that hour back. On Monday we wandered around Colonial Williamsburg ("the CW" to the locals) for most of the morning. It really is a spectacular place. I was really surprised by just how charming and impressive it was. I think I was expecting things to be more Disneyfied with a lot of Ye Olde Shoppes selling colonial themed junk made in China and people in cheap costumes talking in fake accents being overly friendly. Thankfully, none of this was the case. The buildings have been beautifully restored, the shops sell mostly hand-made reproductions, many made by local crafts people, and the people in costumes speak in normal voices but at the same time take their jobs very seriously and will provide a wealth of information if you are interested. Jack was taken by the drains and the crushed shells that line the sidewalks - combining the two was especially satisfying. Tuesday, Jack got to play with Mimi and G'Pa who came to town to entertain the boy while Dan and I looked for a house. While Jack spent the morning at the park with the Grands, Dan and I looked at overpriced apartments, several passable town homes, and some nice but far flung houses. That evening we had dinner at Shield's Tavern in the CW - really fun, good for Jack as it was incredibly noisy and there were kids everywhere, and kind of charming with real candles and a woman playing a harp - no serving wenches in sight. At this point it should be noted that Mimi and G'Pa both arrived feeling a bit under the weather - when we work up on Wednesday morning, Mimi had taken a turn for the worse and G'Pa carted her off to the local Urgent Care Center where she was diagnosed with bronchitis and loaded up with drugs. Dan and I took Jack with us as we looked at 2 last houses then we all headed back to the hotel for naps. Mimi and G'Pa took off early Thursday morning and we hit the road after lunch. On the drive home we finalized the details on a house so I can happily report that we have a place to live come July. It is a nice sized townhouse close to campus so Dan can walk to work. Best of all, it was central air and a dishwasher! CW here we come!

The Sound of Silence

Well, not complete silence just not any intelligible words. So far Jack has decided not to speak. From time to time he will bust out with a new word or phrase but in a few days it will fade out never to be uttered again. For awhile it was "Otis" then he moved onto "big truck" and the phrase du jour is "what's that." He is a whizz at making animal noises, the elephant is his favorite. He also makes a ton of noises on his own - we think he sounds like the aliens in the claw game in the Toy Story movies, "ooooooooo, aaahhhh" - and holds long conversations with us but all with out using any words that we can understand. He understands us perfectly, when he chooses to, and will answer questions with an enthusiastic "Yeah!" Because he obviously understands and know words I'm not at all worried about developmental problems and to be honest I'm not that desperate for him to talk. Given how chatty he is now with no vocabulary I'm sure that once he has words Dan and I won't be able to keep up. So for now we will enjoy his little sound monologues and wonder what's on his mind until he decides to share with us in English.

Success

We've had a breakthrough. About 2 weeks ago Jack decided that he actually liked going to the Academy. One day when I dropped him off I was braced for the usual fit but when I set him down he looked at me and walked over to his teacher, Miss Bonnie, for a hug then joined his friends in the corner for a story. It was all I could do to not run over and hug him and tell him how proud of him I was. Instead I quietly tip-toed out the door and had a little celebration dance by myself in the car. Since then every time I drop him off he gives me a little hug and then happily hops down and scampers over to play with his friends. I'm one proud and relieved Mama! And, what friends he has. When he comes in the door a few of the kids say, "It's Jack!" and come over to welcome him to class. One little boy in particular is especially happy to see Jack, he runs over and immediately starts hugging Jack and then lays a few big juicy kisses on him. As Miss Bonnie says, "Brayden is right at that line of appropriate behavior, we have to keep an eye on the kissing or it gets out of control pretty quickly!" I can deal with the kissing as long as the drop off tantrums are over!

The Monkey

The climbing has gotten out of control. He climbs everything he sees, the shelves in the kitchen, up and down the stairs, onto the dining room table, over the sofa, even out of his crib. He is surprisingly good at it. I turn my head for the briefest second and he is on top of the table reaching for the hot coffee. There have been numerous times when I have gone to the kitchen to refill my water glass and by the time I get back to the living room he is upstairs happily putting his toys in the bathtub - which he can also climb in and out of. To complicate our lives even further he is also very tall so can reach the tops of the counters - all the better to pull himself - and the door knobs. We've baby proofed the door knobs, making it difficult for all of us to get out of the house, but raising the counters seems out of the question. I'm fairly certain it will only get worse before it gets better. During a trip to Port Discovery in Baltimore with Mimi and G'Pa he thought it was hilarious to go head first down the slide he had just climbed up.

The Academy

Jack has been attending Chesterbrook Academy for about 5 weeks now. Well, 5 weeks very on-and-off as he keeps coming home with one illness or another that requires him to stay home the next day - "he's building up immunities" has become our mantra. Don't let the fancy, dare I say pompous, name fool you Chesterbrook Academy is basically day care. It hasn't been an easy 5 weeks. On the first day, Jack did great. Dan and I dropped him off in the morning and he clung a bit but eventually let us hand him over to Miss Darla. He did great, I was a bit of a wreck though. When we got back to the car after leaving the little guy I started crying. It was just so hard for me to let him go. He looked so small in that big room with all the other kids around and he didn't know anybody and even worse they really didn't know him. What if he needed a snuggle and they didn't notice him or if he got thirsty or scared and they didn't know what to do or did it wrong? What if he needed his Mommy? But I made it through the day, hovering by the phone the entire time just in case they called, and rushed out to pick him up as soon as I imagined nap time was over. He did great that day but sadly it has gone downhill since then. He has started to recognize The Academy when we pull up in the car and starts this pathetic little whimper in the backseat. When we get inside he starts crying and I have to pry him out of my arms and hand him off to a teacher. In the afternoon, as soon as he sees me he starts crying and runs to me. It has been hard on me. I hate thinking that he is unhappy or anxious while he is there. I know that he will get more comfortable over time. In fact, I'm fairly certain that he will love it once he gives it a chance. Until then I'll steel myself every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning when I drop him off and trust that he will be fine in the capable hands of the teachers at The Academy.

Down and Out

It's been a hell of a month here at Washburn central. I've been offline for awhile for a number of reasons, the first being that Jack played a little vigorously with the laptop and broke the screen. But the real reason for the long absence is that the three of us have been under attack by numerous nasty illnesses. The Monkey has really born the brunt of it all. He has had a terrible, and long lasting ear infection. It started in one ear, cleared up there and then moved to the other where it continues to rage. With the first infection we put him on antibiotics which really upset his digestion - or so we thought. He couldn't keep anything in him and finally stopped eating altogether. We switched him to an injectible version of the antibiotic which meant going in to the doctors office for three mornings in a row and Jack getting shots in both thighs simultaneously. Needless to say it wasn't fun for any of us. Finally it seemed like things were clearing up so we packed Jack up and sent him back to daycare. Then on Monday night Jack wouldn't sleep, just kept crying all night. At 2am we finally brought him into bed with us insuring that none of us slept that night. Turns out, Jack had a raging fever so we took him back to the doctor. She thinks that the fever is due to his ear infection. He's been home for the last three days. A sweet and pathetic little couch potato. He sits on our laps or on the couch watches the Street or Jack's Big Music Show and occasionally hoots at a dog or balloon on the screen but that is about it. Of course while all of this was going on Dan and I managed to get sick as well. Dan got it first, a horrible cold that left him barely able to speak. I thought I had escaped it which I did in a way, namely I got a wicked stomach bug that left me immobilized for 2 full days and off food for a week. Then Dan and I swapped, he got the tummy bug and I got the cold. Poor Jack was left with some pretty pathetic parents that week but somehow we managed to make it through. Dan and I are finally feeling better now if we could only get Jack back to normal.

Rockin' Around the National Christmas Tree

It was sunny and warm, in the mid-sixties, and we had a small earthquake the night before (3.4). All in all the quintessential San Diego Christmas, except we were in Lancaster. Mimi, G'pa, and Uncle Wolphie came to the right coast for the holidays again this year. We all met up in D.C. and spent the 23rd and 24th visiting the capital. The evening we arrived we took what will hence forth be known as "The Carriage Ride." It was a pretty chilly evening, temp in the 20's, but we were bundled up so didn't think too much of it. Things started off nicely, the ride took us on a loop around the major sites of the capital which were beautifully lit up for the holidays. It was all very atmospheric, the clip-clop of the horse, the lights, the cold, and the whole family huddled up together. Then, things took a bit of a turn for the worse. Jack, who never sits still got a bit bored and tried to walk over our laps. Then he refused to keep his mittens on so his hands were like ice cubes and he kept kicking off his booties so his feet were also freezing. Needless to say the Monkey didn't like being cold and started to fuss. I was able to calm him down and warm him up and we only cut the ride short by a little bit. Once we got back to the hotel and got him warmed up and fed he was back to his normal, boisterous self. The next day we took Jack to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. He really seemed to like the dinosaurs, lots of excited pointing and hooting. We managed to have a successful outing with a minimum of meltdowns and a little education to boot. We went back to Lancaster on Christmas day. Jack had a mountain of gifts, most of which he managed to unwrap. He got lots of things to bang on and push around and clothes to keep him in the "stylish toddler" category. Overall it was a pretty mellow family visit. Jack was not on his best behavior - several tantrums and lots of very willful behavior. It seems he is entering the terrible two's ahead of schedule. Hopefully the bounty of new toys will help keep him entertained!